Insurer eyes property investment policy

China reporter Lucy Gao reviews the major business news making headlines every day in both the Chinese and English language press.

China Securities Journal

■ China Securities Finance Corp launched a pilot refinancing business for margin trading on Thursday. The program is likely to free up 10 billion yuan in financing for margin trading in the initial stage, according to estimation of Guotai Junan Securities.

■ China Life Insurance, the country’s top insurer, plans to boost its investment in real estate and infrastructure to shore up its investment yields which have been eroded by the slump in the capital markets in the first half of the year, said its chairman, Yang Mingsheng.

■ East China’s Shandong province has signed a memorandum of understanding on an alliance with the Singapore Exchange to encourage more local companies to go public in Singapore.

Shanghai Securities News

■ Property developers are planning a new round of promotions to meet their annual sales target and some projects in Shanghai will see a 20 per cent price cut.

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■ Eighteen listed securities brokers reported a combined 9.5 billion yuan net profit in the first half of this year, representing a 31.7 per cent decrease year on year.

National Business Daily

■ China’s consumer price index could rise to 2.2 per cent in August, as food prices have been rising for six weeks, according to a security house report.

Shanghai Daily

■ Chinese cities have moved to boost local land markets as a persistent economic downturn has undermined the fiscal incomes of local governments, analysts said.

■ Net profit at the Agricultural Bank of China, the nation’s third-largest lender by assets rose to 80.5 billion yuan in the first half of this year. But the bank said its year-on-year growth rate more than halved to 20.8 per cent.

China Daily

■ China’s steel prices fell to 3684 yuan a metric ton on Wednesday, their lowest level since late 2009, and senior officials said the fourth quarter will be even more difficult for the industry.

■ French retail giant Carrefour says its exit from Singapore will not affect its operations in the Chinese market, and it will open 20 to 25 stores in China annually.

■ China has promised to allow the import of more products from India, to close an existing $US23.4 billion trade gap between the two countries, despite a series of trade disputes in recent months.

People’s Daily

■ China’s economy is stabilising, although it will remain under downward pressure in the coming months and the country will step up efforts boost domestic demand, the director of the nation’s top planning agency said.

■ A senior official of the Communist Party of China has stressed that systematic reforms for the country’s publishing industry are needed to make the sector more internationally competitive.